Five important things iOS does better than Android

Android and iOS have plenty of differences. Here are five places we think Apple is doing better than Google.

The internet is filled with words about Android and iOS and why one is better than the other. It makes for fun writing and reading because everyone likes to hear about why the thing they prefer is better than the thing they don't. but there are some important things each operating system does better than the other.

In a perfect world, Apple and Google would merge and the result (Gapple?) would make software with the best from both sides. Since that's never going to happen, let's look at five important things iOS does better than Android.

Updates

The way Android and iOS are updated is very different. Google uses Play Services to handle many of the security and application compatibility parts of Android, and iOS updates don't include every feature for older models. But there is still no denying that updates are handled on iOS better than they are on Android.

Google is responsible because their name is tied to Android.

When Android is updated, only phones from Google that are currently supported can expect an update. Those phones are a very small portion of Android devices in the wild. It's difficult for Google to force another company to send an update because Google doesn't build Android: it only gives the source code to other companies who build it themselves. Once the code is updated Google can do no more.

That doesn't change the fact that most Android phones are using old software. It's the fault of the companies making the phones, but the blame will always fall on Google.

Junk apps

The small bits and pieces a phone needs to work on Verizon are built into iOS the same way they are built into Android. But the user-facing apps that you might not want use are not. Google has no say in how Samsung builds the software outside of the things required to use Google Play. That means Samsung and Verizon can make deals that leave you with junk you don't want to use. It's easy to never use the apps and ignore them in the app drawer, but have a look at the data they collect and send back to Verizon, which is now free to sell it to anyone it likes. We're picking on Verizon, but the same goes for every carrier and their junky apps.

Google's phones work on any carrier and don't suffer from the bloatware, but that's because Google builds Android themselves for the Pixel. This one's another of those things Google isn't directly doing but it still gets blamed for because it is in charge of Android. That's part of running a show this big, G.

Support

AppleCare is legendary. When you have a problem with your iPhone you can just walk into an Apple store and have it taken care of (thus AppleCare). Because Android phones come from so many different companies, there is no equivalent on the Android side.

Not that the companies making the phones aren't offering something. They all have their own customer care department, and even the Pixel has a way that lets you talk to a real live human if you have an issue or need some help. Samsung is expanding a retail presence in the west, but it's not even close to the AppleCare experience.

One company is in charge of everything on an iPhone and it offers better support, period. This becomes an important factor when you're buying a phone that costs close to $1,000.

iMessage

Apple's iMessage is both the best and worst messaging app to ever be created. It's a seamless process out of the box that lets you send texts or messages with rich content without installing anything. But it only works on Apple devices.

Green Bubble shaming can also work on the platform with 85% of the market.

Google has tried and failed at recreating this time after time. The biggest reason is that it wants a solution that works everywhere on everything, not just Android. The Hangouts app was able to do it, but the clunky interface and need to manually install it meant most people using Android weren't hanging out and Google is pushing it away from the consumer side. Allo is a great experience between two Android phones but doesn't include SMS so you can only talk to people who use Allo. And both apps were a tough sell to iPhone users because they have iMessage and it already works.

Google, please forget iOS for once and just make a messaging app that works great on Android and Chrome OS. Toss in a great Chrome extension for desktop users if you can and call it gold. Then force companies like Samsung to include it and put the icon on the home screen so people know it's there. Some things are worth fighting the EU over. You already have a good start with Allo.

Security and privacy

Apple collects data from everyone who uses iOS and does a good job of keeping it anonymous and in-house. Google does the same, regardless of what you might read from other places. But Android has some serious issues when it comes to security and privacy.

Updates are part of the problem. Your Pixel is probably protected against some random data-stealing exploit the latest botnet is pushing across the internet. Your BlackBerry does, too. But any other model — including the ones that sell by the tens of millions and drive Android's market share — might not. Google taking good care of your data doesn't matter when hackers get your bank login because you were tricked into installing something that old software allows.

Google understands internet security and privacy but some of that knowledge seems lost when it comes to Android.

Which brings us to the second part: permissions. Android does a good job at letting you decide what an app can and can't do, but it does a horrible job explaining what those permissions really mean. When an app can create accounts on your phone or read your identity you really deserve some explanation about why and how. A good developer will tell you why and how on their store page in Google Play. A good Google would force every developer to do the same then check to make sure they are telling the truth.

Sometimes being in charge of a thing means you have to have a firm hand. This is one of those times for Google. Strict rules for developers to follow if they use Google's store might cause an uproar on Stack Exchange, but it's better for users who aren't aware of how these things work. Those users are who security and privacy controls should be targeted at.

There are plenty of subjective reasons to like one over the other when it comes to Android versus iOS. But when it comes to core services and the way things are handled, there are some things Apple is doing better than Google. These are just five of them that we would like to see Google address as they continue to develop Android.

A better iOS means a better Android as developers on both sides are forced to fight for our attention.

Reader comments

Five important things iOS does better than Android

2. Samsung and verizon can make a deal to install crapware on your device.
4. Google please make a deal with samsung to have your crapware on the device as well. But don't just put that in, force it on people. maybe even lock it to the home screen

I have a Samsung S7 Edge that I bought and a brand new iPhone 7 that work supplies. Both phones are on T-Mobile. I think before you guys go nuts comparing the smartphone features of the two OSes, you ought to compare the most basic function, being a phone. I secured my financial future by loading up on Apple stock in 1993; so it would be great if the iPhone rocked. But, I can tell you that I have to call back at least 60% of my work clients on my Samsung because they complain about the tinny, distorted sound of my voice on the iPhone. I've left messages for myself on my home answering machine and the difference in the iPhone's sound quality is clearly (or more accurately "unclearly" ) a deal killer for me. Although I am grateful for my Apple stock; I'll stick with the best sounding phone.

I'm a new Android user coming from Windows Phone. You need to add that the iPhone UI is harmonious. It is simply a better, more consistent user experience than Android. In addition, the ease of use and power efficiency of iOS is far superior (though neither match Win 10 Phone in my experience). Where Apple falls down, though, is in three key areas to me: 1) photos - not good enough to keep me from buying a V20 - though neither OS has an offering which equals the Lumia 950/950XL in terms of photo quality. 2)no 3.5mm jack - BlueTooth simply hasn't the bandwidth to deliver great sound compared to a wired headset...and the HiFi DAC on the V20 makes an iPhone sound even more dismal 3) Apple are....well, Apple (I like to think for myself a little).

Solid points on all fronts. Only thing I disagree with is the iPhone UI being better, I agree it's more harmonious but in no way is it better. There are such better ways of doing things than they do in ios, they add a lot more steps to basic things. It's always consistent - but incredibly stupid.

Here in Canada it will soon be standard that all android phone sold through Rogers will have Messages installed, which uses RSC, which is similar to iMessage. Now this includes Samsung. If every carrier embraced this technology and adopted the same policy then we would be much closer to iMessage on Android.

Unfortunately (at least in the US) everyone wants to be different and say their tech is better, so different carriers have different RCS systems. Some are cross compatible, some aren't - essentially, RCS messaging on android will never be perfect because certain features won't always worm

I had an iPhone 4 and a 5, and I switched to android about half a year ago. The phones are 99% identical. But I do miss a few things. For one, the phone feels overall less snappy than my 5 year old iPhone 5 despite better specs. Apps started faster and got to the point faster. I also miss tapping the status bar to scroll instantly to the top. Seems small, but I used it all the time, and I still find my self tapping my Samsung's status bar. The other thing I dislike is ironically (to me) often touted as one of Android's great strengths: too much customization. On my computer, great. But I treat my phone as an appliance that serves specific purposes, and I don't really care for all that customization.

Why google doesn't have a good back system after all these years is mind boggling. I guess they seem to think that this is the post pc era and that you can just backup everything to the cloud. Some people like to have their backups stored on their own computers, Google should accommodate those people.

That could have been number 6. It would have read that Google has a great backup method through your Google Drive account but hardly any developers use it and Google won't force them to do so if they want to use Google Play.

Backing Android up to a PC is simple and works the same way as an iPhone: Use the dd command to backup and restore every partition as an image file. If Google wasn't determined to use the cloud for everything they would write a simple front end like the developers at XDA do.

dd (data duplicator) is a low-level command that most (all?) Unix and unix-based operating systems can use. it grabs an entire partition and does a bit for bit copy at the destination you choose. This is basically what Apple is doing with some added license and user authentication checks.

It seriously would not be difficult for Google to make a PC program that does this without needing to do anything to the phone like root or turn on dev mode. For you or I to do it is a different story.

Loved all my Android phones and tablets (all my kids and wife were on them too), BUT when I had to rebuild them all over time (an eventuality in Android), I hated that I had to do all the settings all over again for each device and configure Nova (forgot to keep Nova Backups) and everything else. When I moved to all iOS devices in the house, it was so simple to rebuild a device IF I wanted to (I did my Air and iPhone 7+ twice - for a dry run for work). It was ridiculously easy and EVERYTHING came over perfectly, as if they weren't even rebuilt.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Android (check my posts), but lately iOS has been doing it for my family and doing it quite well in its simplicity....

I don't know if it counts as apple care, but I took my 18 month old iPad into an apple store because the charging port sometimes didn't work. They gave me a brand new iPad without even needing proof of purchase.

If I had done the same with a galaxy tab, I'm pretty sure Samsung would have kicked me in the balls, then farted in my face as I writhed on the floor.

at least 3 of these issues are not an issue if u buy a pixel. 4 if u think support from google is exceptional(I have never had any problem with google support, even with nexus).
wake up people buy a pixel

Jerry, this article and it's sister article about 5 things Android does...... are a bit US centric.

1. iMessage : The rest of the world seems to have adopted WhatsApp (over a billion users at last count) for its universal cross-platform messaging needs. The only exception being China where WeChat has its 700 million odd users. Outside of the U.S. even iOS users frequently use WhatsApp as their messaging app of choice because it's a PITA to move back and forth between apps when you have friends and associates on both platforms.

Wish Google had bought WhatsApp and baked it into AOSP as a default messaging app.

2. Users of entry level iOS devices almost always have trouble with subsequent OS updates as they never have sufficient memory.

3. There is a part of the world where Google Play Services are blocked by law. It also happens to have the largest user base of smartphones on the planet. The multitude of Android app stores have little or no security screening. This is a real mess. It gives the user a very poor Android experience over which Google has even lesser control than the rest of the world. Every locally sold Android device in China is crawling on its knees due to lag after a year or so of usage. Suspect apps messing around in the background is commonplace. Result - it is still the fastest growing market for Apple as consumers opt for the ease and security of App access on iOS.

While Google definitely needs to get stricter on App monitoring in the Play store, maybe a consortium of major Android device sellers should join hands and offer an alternative App store in Asia with similar standards to monitor and control Apps in China otherwise Android would continue to garner a bad reputation in spite of the fact that it has a significant lead in the numbers game.

In this case maybe just mention that in the article, especially on the iMessage section. If you do write articles for users in China or Bulgaria, anyone outside of these two countries can either ignore that article, or learn something new about the fellow Android users. Of course given the content is correct and unbiased.

1. Agree, except that WhatsApp requires an active mobile number to work, at least in the UK, whereas something like Facebook Messenger (yeah, I know...) works on WiFi only tablets just fine (and Windows PCs too). Therefore to communicate with all those people I need to I have to have both apps on my phone. A pain. Apple's stuff does just work.

2. This is so true. Because of Apple's pricing structure people tend to get devices with too little storage. Come update time a whole lot of backing up of photos, videos and music is needed before the OS is updated.

This article is basically an explanation of what tomatoes do better than bananas. iOS and Android are based on quite different business models, and is not appropriate to make a one-to-one comparison of these features.
You could compare iOS with BB10, because with both platforms, their respective parent companies have complete control over software and hardware. But Android is like a blank canvas where anyone can draw anything​: no rules, no limitations.

Thanks for the click-bait title. This really is things Apple does better than [insert your favorite Android phone manufacturer]. Only 1.5 of the 5 are truly related to the software like the title suggests.

Um 4/5 of these items are all related to the OS, in fact, are baked in. You could say that the hardware and software are baked in together, making the article 5/5 and why they do a lot things efficiently.

Apple is seamless and handy in its closed environment, sure. Not so in the real world, collaborating with other OSes. Jerry, we want an article, "10k reasons why Android is better than iOS." Of course, I only need one reason, it's Android. Nuff said.

Assuming the stat that "Android is on a billion active devices!" is true, 4.9% of a billion people is still 49 million people. That's a decent amount of people, but pretty poor numbers on overall usage.

AppleCare isn't free tho... While true you can take your phone into a store while it's under warranty support the isn't always great! I had a problem with my power button once they exchanged my phone with another phone... Which kept rebooting randomly after 2 return trips from them blaming it on everything from a bad iCloud restore to it being water damaged (mind you this was the phone they just gave me that never seen water while I had it) wanted me to pay $200 to replace it

The limited Applecare is free, and it's just the basic warranty (1 year, 90 days). Applecare+ or the Protection Plan costs money, and that's what most people go with.
They don't replace with water damaged phones, but they'll use a refurbished one instead of new. That's rather standard with most companies, though.

I wonder if that's true? I've spent the last half hour looking over the apple.com/uk site trying to find this. The most I could find is that they offer the same Applecare+ or Protection Plans, or that the Upgrade Programme is available to get a new phone every year.

That's the thing, the minions aren't used to thinking for themselves and truly investigating and diagnosing a problem. The phone could actually be faulty? *gasp* no way! Gotta credit Jobsites for swallowing the apple montra, iMessage, lightning cord, and iPhone. Yuck

Or some people aren't into tech as much as you are and want a good support channel if things go south. Apple provides that support where others don't. No reason to be condescending to the consumer for a company answering market demand.

Backup and restore....Hands down! Android is getting better, but outside of TWRP and a Nandroid backup, nothing in Android beats the simplicity of how you can easily backup and restore everything on an iOS device.

Restoring a backup takes FOREVER though on iPhone. There's basically no wait at all when doing it on Android, albeit it does miss a couple things like SMS but at least you can get to using your phone right away.

It might take a while but your phone is basically the same way as before. I love android and i still only use android but android backup unless going from nexus to nexus is archaic and confusing and never works correctly. Nandroid backup was the best way, but most people don't root their phones.

iOS is way better at backups. iCloud (if you buy enough space) is easy and convenient. Backing up to iTunes is also very easy and thorough. Both of these methods backup everything on your phone. Full device restores are only a password away.

My wife said the other day: Why can't I do "FaceTime" on my phone? She has an S5A. I said, well, FaceTime is only Apple products. So she said, well, when is Samsung gonna do something like that? Sadly, my wife represents the common consumer... I had to explain that such a thing exists, it's called Skype, it's been around forever, and you can use it on your laptop, Android phones, Windows phones, and (I'm assuming, since I'll never own one) Apple devices. It took forever to explain the whole process to her. Worst thing: She's used Skype on her laptop, and her phone before. But she brings up a valid issue: Apple just makes some things easier, thus having a widespread adoption. Since you're signed in to your device, you're automatically signed in to FaceTime, and it's all integrated, so you can just hit a button, correct? Not even MS does this on Window 10 devices (PC or Mobile). There's no need to be sure someone else is signed in, on Apple devices, if you know someone has it, you know that your request to FaceTime will get to them. If I want to Skype with anyone, I have to text them first, to make sure they're signed in, wait for them to sign in, and hope they remember their password & username, which they've likely forgotten. It's a process, and as much as I hate to say it, Apple got it right. MS has so much potential with W10(M) and Skype that they're botching. And Google should be able to do something similar, even if it's just better cooperation with MS on Skype.

His point was that with FaceTime there is nothing you have to do for it to work. No installing apps or anything. If someone has an iOS device or Mac, they have FaceTime. I use Duo with my wife but that's it. Nobody else I know wants to mess with installing the app.

yeah, it's an added step, and everyone has to have it. I would have an easier time convincing people to add Skype, which has more brand recognition, that MS needs to be leveraging across all 3 ecosystems. If you're signed into your device, you should be signed into Skype. And convince at least Google to add a softkey under the contact page that allows you to Skype them, and automatically adds their Skype if they have it, and allow that to be shared. And they should be doing the same with everything Windows 10. But yet again, they're dropping the ball.

I'm not an Apple hater but have an honest question. It seems to me that the people I know on iPhone are always talking about iMessage and how that's the reason they can't move away from Apple. This is also one of the reasons I read in online forums about the power of Apple. My question is, wasn't the same thing said about BlackBerry 8-10 years ago? Wasn't BBM so awesome that no one would ever leave them? We all know how that worked out for BB. I recognize Apple has the App store and iTunes to keep people more in their ecosystem as well. Isn't it possible however that a messaging platform won't be enough to keep people long term if Apple stays stagnant like they have over the past few years?

because most people they know are also using iMessage and Facetime. There is zero to configure. If a non-tech relative has a problem, iMessage on their phone is the exact same app on the other person's phone. Support is simpler. I manage mobile devices at my company and while I'm all Android at home, I can tell you that having to support 6 different versions of Android and in a BYOD environment, trying to walk people through 100 different OEM customizations for something as simple as "device management" vs "phone management" depending on the vendor makes it a complete PITA to write up universal documents so they can do basic things for themselves.

iMessage is what Google has been chasing and failing, so yeah, it's a very good thing. It's one of the reasons so many of us would even pay for it if Apple ever offered it (they won't, but it would make things a LOT easier).

People in general are mostly stupid and will continue using whatever device they are currently on. Hardly anyone bothers to look at the alternatives, to try a new a phone. I don't believe for a second that imessage is responsible for keeping apple customers in Apple's ecosystem. I'd bet your average iphone user couldn't tell you what imessage is even though they use it every day.

I still use BBM. Still the best messaging app out there. If BBM had a desktop app for Mac and Windows and you could select a private chat then it would be awesome. Other than a private chat this where Skype excels.

Honestly, iMessage is the biggest reason I stay with iOS, and that's mainly because... It. Just. Works. When I had Androids the texting experience was awful: texts would send out of order or delayed, many emoji weren't supported, I couldn't have a decent group chat, couldn't send full-res photos (or videos), couldn't send texts with low signal, etc... with imessage, everything always works. Texts always send in order, there's never any hassle when trying to send pictures or videos, there are read/delivery receipts, and I can use wifi to text when I'm in places with little to no cell signal. Yeah, really any RCS app can do these things, but here in America where majority of people have iPhones with iMessage on, it's nice to know that I can click send and not have to worry about whether or not the recipient actually got what I was trying to send.

I was talking about the whole user experience as a whole not just SMS. Also, I've never had any any issues with iMessage not working. I send things like pictures and videos a lot, and that's when imessage really comes in handy because I'm not limited to what I can send like I am for regular SMS. Whenever I would send pictures or videos with my androids, they would always be low quality or sent some sort of weird way (like in a slideshow or as a 144p video). With iMessage, I can just simply choose what I need to send and hit send without worrying how the other end will receive it

Apple hasn't been stagnant, though, not since the 90's. They're in a much better position now than RIM was back then.

For iMessage, for example, look at all the new iMessage features in iOS 10, like stickers, message effects, app integration, etc. Before that was Continuity, which allows users to check their messages on all their Apple devices (phone, watch, tablet, laptop/desktop).

Man, I feel you. Every friggin time I get hit with that message. Absolutely annoying as hell. I don't even understand how the iCloud works. Is it saving my photos forever or does it just save my photos for a few months to sync across devices? I can't get straight answers from the web. I had an iPhone, but I sold it when I figured out that my photos and videos were mysteriously disappearing despite the fact that I signed up for 100GB of backup data.

As for what's so special about iMessage? It just works. I know that when iPhone users send each other photos and videos, they come through as they were sent. Send that same video to me and it's a compressed, pixelated mess.

There is a lot I don't like about Apple and iPhones, but it's crazy to deny that these are things they get right.

u both doing something wrong.. my S7E never lagged for monthes now in nougat.. and the battery is good too.. find the problem. maybe u install an apk that has a problem.. try to install from google play only

S7E lag is maddening. The most frustrating thing about it is that for me, about 90% of the time, it's fine... and then it's not. At random times, launching something like the camera app (an app you NEED to be fast) takes 4-5 seconds. From my experience, there seems to be zero rhyme or reason to it. Even after a complete factory reset, apps are slower to launch, and there is random lag. Put it side by side with my OP3T running the exact same set of apps from the Play Store, and the slowness becomes evident. I absolutely never see the same lag out of the OP3T, but go back to the S7E and BAM, there it is. I've literally done every combo of resetting, cache wiping, restoring apps vs not restoring, with/without an SD card, disabling/enabling built-in apps. I can't find a single thing that's causing the lag.

Yep. My S7 Edge likes to lag at the most unfortunate times as well. While on the other hand every single iPhone I've touched doesn't lag. My moms iPhone has no storage space left on it but yet it chugs along very smoothly.
I'm actually debating switching back to an iPhone. I thought about getting the S8+ but I highly doubt the lag issues have been addressed so I might just skip it.

Yeah definitely most popular in the US because of the SMS obsession they have. It's the seamlessness with SMS that makes it paramount for the US. In places were we aren't as fussed about using SMS (I'm in the UK and whatapp is the predominant messaging app) iMessage doesn't offer so much.

First is that it's seamless: you don't have to think about adding specific contacts for iMessage, you just... talk. You can basically assume that every Apple device owner is an iMessage user, whether they've associated iMessage with a phone number or an email address.

Because of that seamlessness, it means you don't worry much about following conversations. You can pick up where you left off on a Mac or iPad without having to install a separate app. Imagine if every Android device and Chromebook on the planet shipped with WhatsApp -- that's the kind of reach Apple promises.

And yes, it does what a lot of modern services do, but also one or two things rivals can't. There's stickers, of course, but there's also hidden messages, hand-drawn doodles, flashy backgrounds and apps. You can play a game or share the song you're playing. Some of these are novelties, but again: any time you're talking to an iOS or Mac user, you have access to these features.

Don't get me wrong, iMessage is intended in part as an ecosystem lock-in... but it's awfully handy in regions like North America, where iPhones are much more common than they are elsewhere.

I'm in the US, and everybody I know seems to have an iPhone and uses iMessage. I do not know a single person who uses Whatsapp for messaging. I downloaded it when I first got my Android phone because it always shows up on the list of apps you must get if you have an Android phone. Quickly learned that it was useless because nobody in my circle uses it, because they ALL have iPhones. If they don't, most carriers here include unlimited texts (SMS) in their plans so a separate messaging app is pointless.

I've had the exact opposite experience. I don't know any iPhone user who does not use iMessage. It's the default SMS/MMS/RCS app on the iPhone. It just automatically switches to greater capability when talking to another phone with iMessage. People don't use it as a separate messaging app from SMS. It's the messaging app.

In the US here, but I use both iMessage and WhatsApp, which I love and started using to communicate with my daughter in Rwanda. If everyone I communicate with in the US used it, then I would be happy to use WhatsApp exclusively, but that's not the case. Most friends just "text" on a mix of android and iPhones. iPhones just happen to have the added features that come with iMessage.

I have two apple phones (a mac and ipad) in my household. I have to disagree on two things:

1 - Updates - my wife and daughter are always out of space for updates from Apple. And then when they update to the latest release, there is always something (normal) but Apple denies it for about 2 months. Then they send an update to fix it.
2 - iMessage. We had to leave Verizon because iMessage eats up data. Text messaging apps like on Android and W10- no, iMessage - yes.

Bonus

Wifi and NFC... Macs, iPhones keep dropping on our, hotel, job networks. They can't connect to some of our bluetooth speakers. No issues with the Android and W10 phones in our household. If we all walk in to the basement, only the win10 desktops, phones, and Androids are working.

This is not correct. SMS is not encrypted. iMessage chats are only encrypted when both parties of the conversation are using iMessage. It then uses a proprietary Apple connection to establish the transmission. Similar to Google Hangouts, which also encrypts messages in Google Hangouts conversations. Any message sent to any user via SMS where the recipient is not using the app, it is in the clear.

iOS updates are almost certanly better than the Android equivalents (excluding Google devices). So long as your iOS device isn't too old, you're definitely getting the update, and you're getting it within days of its release. I have an iPad 4 at my office from 2012 that's still getting updates, and a Samsung Tab S from 2014 that's forever stuck on Android 5.0.1.

Truth be told, I think that's part of Apple's recent problems with iOS updates; there are now so many different iOS devices in the wild that I suspect they're having trouble doing the QA for all of them. That's not shocking when they're willing to support devices for five years.

I think Google has the right idea by stating that every device will get two years of updates, because at some point you need to stop devoting resources to old products that aren't making you any money. However, I'd tweak it to be three years of updates, and possibly a year or two more of monthly/quarterly security updates. Android would be in a lot better shape if the major players all agreed to something like this.

So what's using up the space on your wife and daughter's phones (and a "Mac and an iPad" are not phones...)? Because this doesn't sound like a problem with iOS updates. This sounds like an "I can't manage my storage" issue on the devices themselves.

Are the phones the low-end 16 GB models? If so, well yeah, that sucks. I wish Apple had stopped selling those years ago. But one thing about iOS users: they tend to buy a lot more from the App Store than Google users do. Could the problem simply be that your wife and daughter enjoy using their phones so much that they've filled the storage? More than likely. In which case, it's not an update issue at all is it?

Also: I'd rather have a few bugs to deal with after an update than *not getting* updates on a phone that I bought a year before (say hello to my OnePlus X!).

As for iMessage eating data: of course it does. It's a data-based service. Google Allo does the same thing. If you don't want iMessage to eat data, you turn it off in settings - at which point the iPhone sends SMS-only messages, just like text messaging apps on Android and W10. No need to leave Verizon, no need to switch platforms.

WiFi: Can't say what the problem there is. My iPhone 7+ gets solid WiFi throughout my house whereas my HTC 10 drops signal much faster. I'd guess that maybe your Android phones have plastic or glass bodies, which are radio-transparent and much more likely to get a good signal than a phone with a metal case like the HTC 10 or the various iPhones.